Omaha Strategies
By Al Oharra of AllOnlinePokerSites.com
One of the key issues in Omaha is that you always want to have more than two cards working. In Omaha, position is even more important than in Holdem. In fact, in Omaha/8 the only hand you could justify playing out of any position where you only know two of your cards would be one that contains A2. When your hand is not playing at all for low this becomes more important. When you are playing a hand with only high features all four of your cards need to be working. What I mean by this is that all four of your cards have to be related to each other in some way.
If you are playing big pairs (by this I mean any pair 99 and above) the other two cards need to be strongly related to the pair. So, KKT3 is a completely unplayable hand. You have exactly two kings, a hanging three unrelated to any of the other cards and no suited cards that would give you a flush feature. The only flop you would truly be happy with is one that gives you Kings full. This is a hand that if you were raised in the big blind you could throw it away. Certainly you would never call a raise with this hand in the small blind. AAKA. Again, Don't play it past the flop or on a raise before the flop. You have one pair (AA), and are not likely to see the other A on the Board. In the event that the other Ace does hit giving you a set, you still may lose to a Straight, Flush, or Full House. In fact, since those 3 hands are the winners the majority of the time, you must de-emphasize the importance of holding high pairs. In Omaha, there is no such thing as a dominant hand pre-flop. We therefore discourage raising pre-flop in the long-handed game.
As a contrast consider KK34. This is an incredibly powerful hand in Hi-Lo, one that you could play out of any position at the table, whether suited or not. You have a big pair, kings, and you have two relatively strong low cards, 34. You are playing for high and low and have multiple high features to your hand. Plus, if an ace hits the board, you will often still have the nut low draw. Any 2 pairs are generally a good start, except very low cards, i.e. 3344. With a hole combination of say, 991010, however, you start with multiple winning possibilities: Set, High Straight, or Full House. And, if you have 1 or 2 suited combinations, you may even hit a Flush. The higher your 2 pairs are, the better.
As another contrast, consider hands like QQJT and JTT9. Again these two hands are eminently playable because all four of your cards are strongly related. Further, when you make your hand you will almost always be getting the whole pot as flopping these hands well generally means high cards will hit the board. You have lots of straight possibilities. It is easy to flop a high wrap-a very powerful Omaha hand. If the board hits with a 98K, for example, and you have QQJT you can make a straight with a 7, T, J or Q. This is called a total wrap, when any of four possible cards makes your straight. Further, when you make your hand with the Q this also gives you a set so that when the board pairs you still have a very powerful hand. So big pairs can be very powerful starting hands but only if you have two strongly related other cards in your hand as well.
Connecting cards such as 910JQ are desirable and the higher the connectors the better. Suited combinations in a grouping such as 9s10sJhQh only add more value to your hand. Simply put, the more and higher draw possibilities to start with, the better. Split Connectors (i.e. KQ56) may also be played.
Double flush draws are playable to the flop IF both high cards are no lower than a king. This type of starting hand might be something like Ah5hKc7c. Your preferred flop is lots of diamonds or clubs, and no paired Board. If your Flush hits on the flop or the turn- bet it hard. Chances are someone already has 2 pair, or a Set. You want to eliminate them if possible, and not give them a chance at hitting the Boat on the turn or the river.
In conclusion, please note that although the above tool is important to getting a new player prepared to play Omaha, most players are unsuccessful at Omaha due to their poor judgment after the Flop. In Omaha, after the flop, unless you hold the top 2 pair or a near-nut draw, you simply must fold. Omaha is vastly different in to Holdem in one way, bluffing is rarely successful. Once the flop hits, you and your competitors have access to 7 cards, it is likely one of them will call any bluff. In Omaha, the best players are disciplined enough to only play strong starting hands, as explained above, and they know when to muck. 
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